The demolition of the Transbay Terminal at Mission and 1st Streets in downtown San Francisco, Calif., continues on Friday Jan. 7, 2011.

The demolition of the Transbay Terminal at Mission and 1st Streets in downtown San Francisco, Calif., continues on Friday Jan. 7, 2011.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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The Transbay Transit Center intended to replace the Transbay Terminal would be topped by this 5.4 acre park, designed by PWP Landscape Architecture and Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. This is a rendering; the tallest tower on the left is the proposed Transbay tower, vertical ghost on the right is possible tower site. CREDIT: Project Architect: Pelli Clarke Pelli. Renderings courtesy of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.
Ran on: 04-22-2010
The current Transbay Terminal, left; in the new design, right, the tallest tower at left is the proposed Transbay Tower, and the ghost at right is an alternate site.
Ran on: 04-22-2010
At left is the current Transbay Terminal. In the new design, right, the tallest tower on the left is the proposed Transbay Tower; the ghost at right is an alternate site. less

The Transbay Transit Center intended to replace the Transbay Terminal would be topped by this 5.4 acre park, designed by PWP Landscape Architecture and Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. This is a rendering; the ... more

Photo: Courtesy, Transbay Joint Powers Authority

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Computer renderings show how changes proposed for the Transbay Terminal area might alter the skyline. The red images are towers higher than 850 feet. The blue ones are towers now allowed.

Computer renderings show how changes proposed for the Transbay Terminal area might alter the skyline. The red images are towers higher than 850 feet. The blue ones are towers now allowed.

Photo: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP.

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SF's Transbay Terminal: looking beyond the rubble

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Once the hub of transit for downtown San Francisco, the Transbay Terminal building is now a fresh pile of rubble that many hope will eventually become the face of the city's skyline.

Announced in May 2008, the much heralded plan would shift the city's high-density heart from the Financial District to an area south of Market Street. Construction was once scheduled to be under way by 2010.

But construction has idled while planners continue to study the development's impact on traffic on the Bay Bridge, air and water pollution and the shadows that the handful of skyscrapers would cast on the Embarcadero and other public spaces.

Under the most aggressive timeline, the city won't begin debating the details until spring and construction won't begin until late this year or early 2012, said Joshua Switzky, project manager with the city's planning department. And that's assuming the economy picks up and opponents of tall buildings don't further stall the plan.

The delay is understandable, given the scale of the proposed plan, Switzky said.

Besides the marquee 1,200-foot Transbay Tower, the plan also sets the framework for at least six other high-rise buildings in the 600- to 800- foot range that many hope will redefine that area of the city. The Transamerica building - currently the city's tallest - is 853 feet tall.

The new $1.2 billion Transbay Terminal near First and Mission streets will be the hub of transit for much of downtown San Francisco.

If everything goes according to plan, the terminal will be the site of San Francisco's high-speed rail station, linking regional transportation with local buses. Planners hope that having the transit center as a hub of the new development will allow higher concentrations of housing and offices without a commensurate increase in the number of cars on the road.

The terminal is expected to be finished in six to seven years, Switzky said.

"By then there could be a couple of these buildings on the ground or being built," he said.

But those high-density high rises will redefine the southern cityscape, a concern of many who appreciate the city's low-density character. The current limit for building height in that area is 550 feet.

Sue Hestor, a development attorney who has questioned the impacts of skyscrapers for decades, said she is watching the bureaucratic process.

The market for office space in San Francisco is already oversaturated, she said. Even if a developer finds the funds to construct the 1,200-foot tower, it could end up being vacant for years, she said.

"The market for that tower is no different than anything else going up in this city," she said.

Metcalf, an ardent supporter of the project, said the new towers would center thousands of workers near a transit hub, a practical way to combat the suburban sprawl that breeds gridlock and air pollution.

"It is a powerful idea," he said. "In the renaissance, the tallest building would always be the church steeple; the center of the city. For San Francisco to say our tallest building is going to be our transit center is a more wonderful idea."